In a continuing effort to improve the quality of shipping fruits, we, the inventors, typically grow a large number of plum and apricot seedlings each year. Many of the plum seedlings are crossed with specifically selected pollen while the remainder of them are allowed to be randomly pollinated and are planted as a mixed group of varying seed parents. Most of these chance plum seedlings are cross-pollinated by other plums, but occasionally a few are crossed by an almond or an apricot. In 1984 we discovered the subject variety as such a plum-apricot hybrid tree among our plantings of randomly pollinated plum seedlings, thereby being a seedling of an unknown plum as the seed parent and an unknown apricot as the per-chance pollen parent. It was discovered in the cultivated area of our experimental orchard at Bradford Farms near Le Grand, Calif. in Merced County (San Joaquin Valley).
The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of plum-apricot hybrid tree, which has been denominated varietally as "Royal Velvet Plum-Cot". The tree produces fruit that is medium in size, firm for shipping, early in ripening compared to typical plum and apricot varieties, a blend of both plum and apricot flavor, and somewhat similar to an apricot in external appearance by having typical apricot pubescence. The fruit is distinguished from typical apricots by being globose in shape and possessing full dark purple skin color at maturity.
The present variety most closely resembles the Red Velvet Plum-cot (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,011) by being self-sterile and by producing dark purplish red fruit that has skin pubescence, that is clingstone in type, and that is firm enough for commercial shipping, but is distinguished from the Red Velvet Plum-cot by having wood that is less brittle and by producing fruit that is globose in shape instead of oblong, that is much sweeter in flavor at shipping ripeness, that is more strongly attached to the stem, and that ripens 5 days later.
Subsequent to origination of the present variety of plum-apricot hybrid tree, we asexually reproduced it by budding and grafting, and such reproduction of plant and fruit characteristics were true to the original plant in all respects.